Poland Arrests Professional Russian Hockey Player For Spying

File photo: UKS Zaglebie Sosnowiec defender Maksim Sergeyev  

Moscow Times/AFP: Poland Detains Russian Hockey Player Suspected of Spying for Moscow 

Poland said Friday it arrested a Russian ice hockey player on suspicion of having spied for Moscow while playing for a Polish club, prompting Russia to protest and demand an "immediate" explanation. 

Relations between Warsaw and Moscow have been hostile historically but have reached new lows during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Poland being one of Kyiv's staunchest allies. 

Warsaw said the man was the fourteenth person arrested in what it called a spy ring taking orders from Moscow. 

"All of them were identified as foreigners from beyond the eastern border of the Republic of Poland," Warsaw's ABW secret services said, without clarifying if all of the suspects were Russian citizens. 

 "The entire group was used by the Russians to conduct intelligence activities, including monitoring railway routes, as well as spreading propaganda against NATO, Poland and the policies of the Polish government," it added.  

Read more ....  

Update: Poland charges hockey player in suspected Russian spy ring (UPI)  

WNU Editor: The Kremlin wants answers .... Russia demands answers from Poland on sports star’s arrest (RT). 

On a side note. There has been a push in Canada since the start of the war to ban Russian hockey players .... 'Players are our players, our family': Sutter disagrees that Russian NHL players should be suspended (CTV News). With the Olympic Games only a year away, I expect there will be an intensified push by the West to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes.